Chin Urban & Tribal Series

A "global nomad", Christian Develter uses his canvas to portray his rich experiences of peoples and cultures from around the world. He is a highly versatile artist whose works push boundaries. Born in Belgium in 1968, Christian moved to Asia in the mid nineties and chose to live in Bangkok, Thailand where he found further inspiration for his brush. Christian believes that despite cultural differences and starkly different socio-realities, there are moments that can be appreciated by everyone. These moments pull the trigger of his inspiration.In 2012, Develter travelled extensively through the northwestern area of Myanmar and visited the indigenous tribes of that region. The inspiration for his latest series of works comes from the intricately tattooed faces of the Chin women.The Chin tribe and their tattoos are relatively unknown to the outside world. Located in northwestern Myanmar (Chin and Rakhine States), the different tribes use tattoo marks in a centuries’ old tradition to distinguish one hill tribe from another, or to indicate marital status and social rank. Together with the Derung tribe in southwest China’s Yunnan province, (both sharing the same Indo-Tibetan lineage) they are the only tribes known to adhere to this practice. The multiplex patterns are carved into the skin by thorns using a mixture of sap from a local plant (sourced in the jungle for the color), ash and chicken blood or buffalo kidney. According to legend, the ornate tattoos were originally done so that Burmese Kings would not be able to steal Chin women as wives. Over time, the tattoos have evolved to become symbols of strength and beauty: reflecting nature - especially the animal and plant Kingdom - and the animist beliefs of the tribe.Examples of these complex and delicate tattoos include:-Spider webs on the face-The sun on the forehead-Reptile skin on the face, especially on eyelids, nose and chin-Tiger whiskers bellow the nose-Peacock plumage fan on the forehead-Leopard dots on the faceFor generations, women have been willing to submit themselves to the pain of this art for the beauty it represents to them and to their tribe. Deep in the unforgiving hills and jungle of the Chin state, and despite being forbidden by the government, tattoos continue to be carved on faces of young girls coming to age. With the opening of Myanmar’s borders, these women may soon come to represent the last of their kind.

The paintings of this series " Chin Urban & Tribal "aim to be an amalgamation between the modern and the past - displaying the perfectly symmetrical contemporary urban faces of Asian women painted with the painstakingly intricate Chin tribal tattoo designs of Myanmar. Develter’s critically well-received “Chin Urban & Tribal” is an invitation to explore the artist’s contemporary narrative of evolving cultures.